DECEMBER 15, 2006

Work progressing well at Hinwil

The BMW Sauber team is expanding all the time at the moment with the staff climbing rapidly and the factory being expanded significantly as the team brings in new people and new departments. The old Sauber factory - once the biggest and best in F1 - now seems small in comparison to some of the others but with BMW funding a new building that will link the factory and the windtunnel, the team will soon have a lot more space into which to expand.

"When we took over the team this time last year there were 275 employees," said Dr Mario Theissen. "We have already reached 400 and by the end of next season we will have 430. We shifted the windtunnel to two shifts in January and since October we have been had three shifts, working round the clock like the big teams."

The new building at Hinwil will help to house all the new staff with new departments, testing labs and preparation bays.